Hartley Charlton
In 2023, Apple updated the Mac Studio with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips. Now, Apple has updated the Mac mini with the M4 and M4 Pro chips, meaning the Mac Studio has a formidable competitor that offers Pro capabilities at a significantly lower price.
There are now two Mac desktops and four Apple silicon options for users who don't need the expandability of the Mac Pro. The Mac Studio starts at $1,999, dwarfing the M4 Mac mini's $599 starting price and even the M4 Pro's starting price for the Mac mini. at $1,399, so do you need the performance of the Mac Studio or the modest Mac mini? Our guide will help you answer the question of how to decide which of these two Mac desktops is best for you.
The Mac mini and Mac Studio share some core features, including a familiar, square silver aluminum design, two USB-C ports on the front along with HDMI and Ethernet on the back, and Apple silicon chipsets. That said, the two machines have far more differences than they have in common, including different chip options, memory capacities, ports, and external display support options.
| Mac mini (2024) | Mac Studio (2023) |
|---|---|
| M4 or M4 Pro chip (manufactured on TSMC's advanced 3nm (N3E) process) | M2 Max or M2 Ultra Chip (manufactured on TSMC's advanced 5nm process (N5P)) |
| Max CPU clock speed of 4.30 GHz | Max CPU clock speed of 3.50 GHz |
| M4: 10-core CPU (4 performance cores + 6 efficiency cores) M4 Pro: 12- or 14-core CPU (8 or 10 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) |
M2 Max: 12-core CPU (8 performance cores + 4 efficiency cores) M2 Ultra: 24-core CPU (16 performance cores + 8 efficiency cores efficiency) |
| M4: 10-core GPU M4 Pro: 16- or 20-core GPU |
M2 Max: 30- or 38-core GPU M2 Ultra: 60- or 76-core GPU |
| Updated GPU architecture with improved efficiency | |
| Hardware-accelerated ray tracing | |
| Dynamic caching | |
| LPDDR5X memory | LPDDR5 memory |
| M4: 120 GB/s memory bandwidth M4 Pro: 273 GB/s memory bandwidth |
M2 Max: 400 GB/s memory bandwidth M2 Ultra: 800 GB/s |
| M4: 16GB, 24GB, or 32GB unified memory M4 Pro: 24GB, 48GB, or 64GB of unified memory |
M2 Max: 32GB, 64GB, or 96GB of unified memory M2 Ultra: 64GB, 128GB, or 192GB of unified memory |
| M4: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage M4 Pro: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of storage |
M2 Max: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of storage M2 Ultra: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB of storage |
| 16-core Neural Engine, 38 trillion operations per second | M2 Max: 16-core Neural Engine, 15.8 trillion operations per second M2 Ultra: 32-core Neural Engine, 31.6 trillion operations per second |
| Video decoding engine, video encoding engine, and ProRes Encoding and Decoding Engine | M2 Max: Video Decoding Engine, Two Video Encoding Engines, and Two ProRes Encoding and Decoding Engines M2 Ultra: Two Video Decoding Engines, Four Video Encoding Engines, and Four ProRes Encoding and Decoding Engines |
| AV1 Decoding | |
| Dedicated Display Engine | |
| Support for up to three external displays | M2 Max: Support for up to five external displays M2 Ultra: Support for up to eight external displays |
| M4: Three Thunderbolt 4 ports in the rear M4 Pro: Three Thunderbolt 5 ports in the rear |
Four Thunderbolt 4 ports in the rear |
| Two USB-C ports in the front | M2 Max: Two USB-C ports on the front M2 Ultra: Two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the front |
| Two USB-A ports on the rear | |
| Gigabit port Ethernet or 10Gb Ethernet | 10Gb Ethernet port |
| SDXC (UHS-II) card slot | |
| Bottom power button | Rear power button |
| M4: from $599 M4 Pro: from $1,399 |
M2 Max: from $1,999 M2 Ultra: from $3,999 |
After this year's redesign of the Mac mini, the two devices are now radically different in size, with the Mac Studio dwarfing the Mac mini. in every way.
| Mac mini | Mac Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 2.0 in (5.0 cm) | 3.7 in (9.5 cm) |
| Width | 5.0 in (12.7 cm) | 7.7 in (19.7 cm) |
| Depth | 5.0 in (12.7 cm) | 7.7 in (19.7 cm) |
| Weight | M4: 1.5 lbs (0.67 kg) M4 Pro: 1.6 lbs (0.73 kg) |
M2 Max: 5.9 lbs (2.7 kg) M2 Ultra: 7.9 lbs (3.6 kg) |
To some extent, purchasing decisions should be driven by budget, but it's worth keeping in mind that any money you save on the desktop itself can be put toward a good external display, like Apple's Studio Display, which starts at $1,599. For example, an M4 Pro Mac mini paired with a Studio Display costs $2,898, which is just $899 more than the base Mac Studio model and $1,101 less than the M2 Ultra Mac Studio without a display.
You should only consider the Mac Studio if you have a professional workflow that can leverage the extreme power of the M2 Max or M2 Ultra, as well as its extra ports and memory options. If you want a Mac Studio, you probably know you're looking for a very powerful machine that can handle certain intensive workflows. Most customers should opt for the M4 Pro Mac mini over the M2 Max Mac Studio, saving $700 when considering base models. There will likely still be significant savings when it comes to custom configurations.
Mac mini is also the better choice for most users right now, as its chip technology is two generations ahead of the Mac Studio, offering higher clock speeds, much faster single-core performance, a redesigned GPU architecture, AV1 decoding, a noticeably more powerful Neural Engine, and more. As a result, those looking to buy the M2 Max Mac Studio might be better off with the M4 Pro Mac mini. Those who can take advantage of the M2 Ultra Mac Studio's performance maybe even better with this high-end machine.
Related Reviews: Mac Studio, Mac miniTags: M2 Guide, M4 Mac mini Guide, M4 MacsBuyer's Guide: Mac Studio (Beware), Mac Mini (Buy Now)Related Forums: Mac Studio, Mac mini589 comments
